


Surety of Prosperity

by Jenny_Islander



Category: Lords of Creation - S.M. Stirling
Genre: Filk, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 21:29:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenny_Islander/pseuds/Jenny_Islander
Summary: The Real World had an ocean, long ago.  Or, I attempt to translate a Canadian folksinger across a hundred million miles and into another universe.Warning: Spoils the ending of the second book.Also warning: Scholarly translation; does not scan.





	Surety of Prosperity

A lyric by Saten sa-Rojis, who is said to have lived contemporaneously with the last generations of the fishing- _na_ of the North.  
Preserved in the Vaults of Remembrance in Dvor Il-Adazar as an illustration of the tenacity of futile hope and lately revived in popular usage.

Surety of Prosperity sank at the end of the fishing season.  
The captain and first mate had begun integrating essences after leaving port;  
They drove her onward into shoal-waters,  
And she was wounded upon the rocks.  
The five of us common fishermen who remained with her as she sank  
Strove to save her, as one who stood in a relationship of mutual beneficence with us;  
She cried out as she went down and we called back  
That Surety of Prosperity should attain full vigor.

They who owned her denied that she could be saved;  
Although she was in her prime, they discarded her.  
They were compensated from their investment in a mutual assurance partnership;  
They said, "Let her die in hibernation," and they dismissed us with mockery.  
But all through the season of storms we talked of nothing else  
But her tangible and intangible value.  
We spoke of it over mild euphorics; we contracted with one another  
That Surety of Prosperity should attain full vigor.

Let her rise! Let her rise!  
Let her name not be forgotten!  
We were in a relationship of mutual beneficence with her; we did not leave her until we had no alternative compatible with life;  
We will assist Surety of Prosperity to full vigor.

We have given up opportunities to fish in the early season, calling in favors owed  
To accumulate the equipment needed for the dives, at great physical hardship.  
Favorable randomness deposited her in waters too shallow for large predators,  
Else we could never have made the attempt.  
We have brought her bandages and medicines, made her ready for the stimulus of surface air,  
And assisted her into a harness attached to the barge above;  
Tomorrow, when the light is best, we awaken the winch,  
And watch Surety of Prosperity attain full vigor.

We could not leave her to die, let it be understood;  
She had carried us in safety through many unseasonable storms; how could we deny mutual obligation?  
They who mocked us as they discarded her, they who think no further than immediate desire,  
Shall be silenced in shame.  
And you, listener, if this song is relevant to you in the mode of metaphor,  
If those from whom you realistically expected mutually beneficial action have proven false,  
Take action; commit your intellect, your will, and your strength,  
And like Surety of Prosperity, attain full vigor.

Rise once more! Rise once more!  
Though ceasing to strive seems most congruent with reality,  
No matter what loss has afflicted you,  
Like Surety of Prosperity, may you attain full vigor.


End file.
